Residents of Gidan-goga village, in the Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State, have paid the N20m levy imposed on them by bandits’ leader, Bello Turji, to forestall attacks on their community.

PUNCH Metro gathered that Turji, who imposed the N20m levy on residents of the village, asked them to pay the money on or before Sunday, November 27, or face his wrath.

He threatened to attack the village if the money was not paid on or before the deadline.

An indigene of the area, who pleaded anonymity for security reasons, told our correspondent that the money was paid on Sunday, adding that residents, who fled to other places, had started returning to the village.

“Many people including myself have returned to the village because of the payment of the levy. We paid additional sum of N6m for the release of five people abducted by the terrorists who belonged to Bello Turji’s camp,” the indigene said.

Efforts to get a reaction from the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Mohammed Shehu, failed as he could not be reached on his phone number as of the time of filing this report.